LOS ANGELES - Kings captain Anze Kopitar snapped a 13-game goal drought in regulation and scored again in the shootout, leading Los Angeles back from a two-goal deficit in the third period for a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

Kopitar and Tanner Pearson scored early in the third to tie it for the Kings, who opened a seven-game homestand with a key win for their playoff hopes.

Jonathan Quick stopped 29 shots and denied all three Maple Leafs players in the shootout, propelling Los Angeles to its first shootout victory in four tries since Oct. 22.

Tyler Bozak and Nikita Zaitsev scored early goals for the Maple Leafs, losers of four straight. Toronto also fell to 1-8 in shootouts this season.

Jarome Iginla played nearly 16 minutes in his debut with the Kings, who acquired the 39-year-old veteran from Colorado at the trade deadline on Wednesday. Wearing a black No. 88 jersey, Iginla got a warm reception from the sellout crowd at Staples Center.

Frederik Andersen made 33 saves in his first trip back to Southern California since the Anaheim Ducks traded him to Toronto in the offseason.

The Kings opened a seven-game homestand that could determine whether they miss the postseason for the second time in three seasons since winning their second Stanley Cup title in 2014. Los Angeles began the night one point behind St. Louis for the second wild card in the Western Conference.

Bozak put the Maple Leafs ahead early in the first period, capitalizing on a fortunate rebound for his 15th goal. He has five 15-goal seasons during his eight-year career in Toronto.

Zaitsev then scored on a long shot through traffic in the second period after Brian Boyle won a faceoff. The Russian defenseman might have received a fortunate deflection to beat Quick, who appeared to be badly screened.

After 93 minutes of play without a goal, the Kings' scoring struggles ended when Kopitar's shot hit Zaitsev in the helmet and bounced past Andersen during a power play. Almost incredibly, Kopitar didn't score a goal in February.

Pearson tied it 90 seconds later with his 22nd goal, nimbly keeping the puck away from Andersen's poke-check and sliding it under the Danish goalie.

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Sorry Nikita Zaitsev, but stuck in the midst of a down year, Anze Kopitar will take 'em any way he can get 'em.

On a third period power play Thursday night, the Los Angeles Kings captain let a one-timer loose that was tracking well wide, until a deflection off Zaitsev's head pushed it right into the open goal.

The bizarre marker was Kopitar's seventh of the season.

(Video Courtesy: NHL.com)

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It wasn't just an ordinary game for P.K. Subban.

The charismatic blue-liner, playing in the Bell Centre for the first time in Nashville Predators colors, was the story all night long, and was put front and center prior to Thursday's puck drop with a touching video tribute.

In the months since the Montreal Canadiens shipped him of town, speculation's swirled as to why Subban, clearly a fan favorite, didn't fit in the their future plans. Still, despite his shocking exit, Subban was moved by his so-called homecoming.

"It's a first-class organization, so I'd expect nothing less," Subban told reporters postgame.

He was visibly overcome with emotion after the tribute, shedding tears while saluting his former home crowd.

"All those memories come back, whether it's stuff to do with the hospital or kids, family, teammates, whatever it is," Subban said. "I felt that I shared that with all the fans and the community here, I guess that's how it all came out."

Subban managed an assist on the Predators' lone goal in the 2-1 loss.

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Sergei Bobrovsky hit a new personal best with a perfect game against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

The Columbus Blue Jackets netminder turned away all 38 shots thrown his way to pick up his fourth shutout and 33rd win of the season, beating his previous mark of 32, set during the 2013-14 season.

He also tied Braden Holtby to move within one win of Devan Dubnyk - who occupied the opposing net Thursday - for the league lead in wins.

With 33 down and another 20 games left, he appears well on his way to obliterating his previous record.

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Bruce Boudreau was not terribly pleased with the officiating in the Minnesota Wild's narrow 1-0 defeat to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

The Wild bench boss was still livid postgame over an Erik Haula goal that was overturned after Haula was deemed to have kicked the puck in.

Boudreau also sounded off on Martin Hanzal's elbowing penalty on Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, which came with just under 1:30 left in regulation.

Boudreau might have a case:

"In a game where two teams worked their butts off that are two of the top teams in the league and you end up losing on bad calls," Boudreau said, according to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune.

Luckily for Boudreau and his Wild, the team has still gone 6-3-1 in its last 10 games and remains in first place in the Western Conference.

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BOSTON - Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves on his 35th birthday and the New York Rangers got third period goals from Pavel Buchnevich and Oscar Lindberg to beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday night.

New York, which has beaten Boston five straight times, outscored the Bruins 12-5 while sweeping the three-game season series.

Lundqvist stymied the Bruins on several outstanding chances and improved to 25-12-2 against Boston with a 1.93 goals-against average. He earned his 403rd NHL win, tying Grant Fuhr for 10th on the career list.

Brad Marchand scored his team-leading 29th goal for the Bruins to cut it to 2-1 at 12:56 of the third. David Backes just about extinguished any final hopes for Boston when he was whistled for goaltender interference with 2:22 remaining.

Buchnevich, called up from the minors earlier in the day, wristed a shot over goalie Tuukka Rask's left shoulder to put the Rangers ahead. Lindberg scored 4:25 later to make it 2-0 at 9:35 of the third.

Marchand tipped in a pass from David Pastrnak.

Rask made 19 saves for Boston, which lost for the second time in nine games.

NOTES: New York has won 11 of 13 on the road and leads the NHL with 22 road wins. ... The Rangers are 1 for 33 on the power play over the last 12 games. ... New York swept the season series from Boston for the first time since 2006-07. ... Marchand has 24 points over the last 15 games. ... Rangers forward Derek Stepan hasn't scored in 19 games. . Boston was held under two goals for the first time in 14 games.

UP NEXT

Rangers: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

Bruins: Host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

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The Florida Panthers will be without goaltender Roberto Luongo for at least a week, head coach Tom Rowe announced Thursday, according to George Richards of the Miami Herald.

Luongo aggravated a pre-existing condition midway through the first period, Rowe said, but played through it. The 37-year-old left the Panthers' 2-1 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers after the first frame, giving way to James Reimer, who turned away 35 of 36 shots in 45 minutes of work.

The team has also recalled goalie Reto Berra from the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League.

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Securing points is a necessity at this time of year, and the Nashville Predators fell nine seconds short.

After a turnover at the blue line, Montreal Canadiens forward Paul Byron raced to a breakaway, and potted the game-winner to spoil P.K. Subban's homecoming.

The win improved the Habs to 5-2-0 under Claude Julien, but was remarkably their first regulation victory since Jan. 31.

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Braden Holtby is up to his old tricks.

The Washington Capitals netminder picked up his league-leading eighth shutout of the season in a 1-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night to continue his latest streak of red-hot performances.

With his goose egg Thursday, Holtby has gone 4-0-0 in his last four starts, giving up just three goals in that span with an inhuman .976 save percentage.

Rewind a little further and it's clear that not only has Holtby been hot in the short term, he's been nearly perfect in the new year.

Since Jan. 1, Holtby has gone 18-0-1 in 21 starts, picking up five of his eight shutouts while posting a 1.75 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.

Overall, the streak has pushed Holtby into contention for his second straight Vezina Trophy win. He currently sits second league-wide in wins (33), third in save percentage (.930), and first in goals-against average (1.95), as well as first in shutouts.

With the Capitals' latest win, the team is now 7-2-1 in its last 10 games and remains undefeated on home ice in 2017. The Capitals can thank Holtby for that.

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The Buffalo Sabres are nearly unbeatable when Jack Eichel produces.

After missing the start of the season with an ankle injury, the second-year phenom has hit his stride, and the Sabres are reaping the benefits.

Eichel's three-point (one goal, two assists) performance was the difference in Thursday's 6-3 win over Arizona, and it continued a trend of Sabres dominance when the 20-year-old puts forth a multi-point effort.

Since Feb. 1, Eichel's recorded 19 points in 15 games - tied with Patrick Kane for the highest individual output in the NHL over that span.

Largely in part to Eichel's surge, Buffalo's 16 points since the start of February are the eighth-highest total league-wide.

In just 43 games this season, Eichel sits two points off the Sabres' team lead with 40, in 11 fewer contests than frontrunner Ryan O'Reilly.

Eichel is scoring at nearly a point per game this season, and although it's a smaller sample size, it's a vast improvement from his 0.69 average in his stellar rookie season.

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